Obi’s presidential election victory in Imo won’t stop my re-election – Uzondinma

Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has expressed confidence in his chances of winning the November 11 governorship election, despite the outcome of the February 23 presidential poll in the state.

In an interview with Channels Television on Thursday, Uzodimma dismissed speculations that his victory in the governorship election was uncertain, citing the impressive performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State in recent elections.

“First of all, my party did not lose an election in Imo state. If I understand what the situation is — we had an election on February 25 in Imo state,” he said.

He went on to highlight the APC’s successes in previous elections in the state, including the election of two senators out of three, four members of the House of Representatives out of seven, and 25 members of the House of Assembly out of 27 seats.

“The next week, which was March, we produced 25 members of the House of Assembly out of 27 seats. Is that how to lose an election? APC is a party to beat in Imo. APC had done so well that there is already an exodus from other political parties to our great party,” Uzodimma stated.

He also emphasized that the outcome of the presidential election in Imo would not necessarily dictate the result of the upcoming governorship election.

“Presidential election in Nigeria is not calculated or used to assess governorship election. In a presidential election, the result is declared according to votes in all states of Nigeria. In the number of votes cast in Nigeria, APC won. In the governorship election, the result will be based on votes cast in Imo state, and until that is done, nobody is going to beat his chest to tell you what is going to be the result,” he said.

The governor also noted that the APC has continued to gain support in Imo State, with members of other political parties defecting to the ruling party.

“APC had done so well that there is already an exodus from other political parties to our great party,” he said.

Uzodimma’s comments come amid concerns that his victory in the governorship election may be threatened by the outcome of the presidential election in which Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) emerged victorious in Imo State with 352,904 votes. Bola Tinubu of the APC came second with 66,171 votes, while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came third with 30,004 votes.

Despite these concerns, Governor Uzodimma remains confident in his chances of winning the governorship election and has urged Imo State residents to support the APC in the upcoming poll.